Hi everybody,
I am now 55 years old and live in Hamburg, Germany. I was a chubby kid, a fat teenager and an even fatter adult. When I was younger, it was not quite so bad, as I was quite active but as the weight ballooned, it got increasingly difficult so I was less mobile but not eating less. In the end I weighed 130 kgs at a height of 163 cm.
Finally admitting that I could not hack it alone was the hardest part. Here in Germany, we have certified obesity centres, specialising in bariatric surgery and everything that entails. Our health insurance will pay, however, you must jump through many hoops before they will approve. At the time I was not happy with that, had I not struggled all my life and it just felt as if they were trying to hold me back even more now. I have since changed my attitude about that as the preparation phase (min 7 months up to a year) has helped tremendously to educate myself about bariatric surgery and all that entails, but it has also prepared me brilliantly for the life after the OP. I have learned more about nutrition and my body than ever before.
So I underwent the whole program, some gentle exercise, regular monthly sessions with a board-certified dietician as well as a psychological assessment. The hospital I chose offered open houses, and information on all related topics. After I had completed the program, I prepared my application and it was approved after only three weeks. The hospital I chose offered assistance on every level and resources were available throughout the entire process.
I met the surgeon at my first interview and I see the surgeon who performed the op at every follow-up visit, not some flunkey instead.
Today, almost three years on, I can say that I went into this as well informed as humanly possible.
The first shock came about three weeks post-op. Everyone had been raving about how you don't feel hungry and a how the smallest quantity of food will fill you up. Not so in my case. I was so disappointed at first, the hospital checked the bypass and it was exactly how it should be, so nothing wrong there. I was faced with a choice: either resign and consider the whole enterprise a failure or fight. As my bypass has never done its job properly I had to go it alone. I decided to view the op as the 'reset' button and change my lifestyle and diet there and then.
The whole thing has an upside too: I have never experienced the dumping syndrome, never thrown up nor any other unpleasantness associated with this procedure.
But I had to start immediately to monitor my food intake, because otherwise I would not have known when to stop. I decided to embrace the whole thing, learned about nutrition, balanced eating. I hate gyms, so I have started walking and now cover between 50 and 60 kms per week on average. And I not only reached goal weight, I actually lost 106% of my excess weight. Even my surgeon did not expect that and has included a statement in my last follow-up report that my weight loss is my own achievement and I have every reason to be very proud of it.
Together with my husband, I developed a food diary to help me keep track of my intake. At first, it was really hard work as I had to manually include every foodstuff I ever bought, but as the data pool grew, it became easier all the time. I then badgered my husband into writing me an app (for my Android mobile phone) so I could keep track of food consumption even when on the go. At first, I weighed everything but over time I became very good at estimating the weight of food - which makes eating out so much easier
My surgeon reckons that I made it because I so whole-heartedly embraced the whole concept, even though the odds were stacked against me. And, let's face it: after a few years the hunger comes back anyway and the portions WILL grow in size - happens to everyone; to me it just happened sooner.
I also find that maintaining weight is much, much harder than to lose it, so now I have to fight that battle. But one thing I know: I will never give up. I now weigh less than I did when I was 16 years old and that is a dream come true.
Whoa, that was a long post - thanks to all who took the time to read it.
BTW, is there a category for before and after pictures? I'd like to post some if that's OK.
Chi
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